AWARDS

• Kirkus "GET IT" Award - January 2026 
• Kirkus Review (Jan. 2026) "A classic quest narrative that lovers of fairy tales are likely to enjoy."
• Booklife Review (Jan 2026) "A lively, touching bard’s tale of a faerie’s adventures in the mortal realm."
• Foreword Review (January 2026): 4 out of 5

OVERVIEW

An action-adventure romantasy filled with intrigue, sharp banter, dangerous secrets, and real emotional stakes.

Escala’s Wish, the debut fantasy-romance novel by David James, launches the epic Tales from Valla series, where fey politics and forbidden love collide in a world shaped as much by choices as by power.

STORY SUMMARY

It started with a kiss.

Escala Winter, a mischievous pixie from the Court of Dreams, only wanted to understand love.

But one impulsive kiss awakens a long-buried grudge, forges a treacherous alliance, and unleashes a storm of vengeance that threatens to consume both mortal and Fey realms.

Banished from her enchanted home, Escala is thrust into a world of danger and deception, and burdened with an impossible quest that may be her only chance to make things right.

She’s hunted by a cruel rival, haunted by the loss of her best friend, and entangled in a sinister revenge plot older and darker than she could ever imagine.

Now, trapped in the mortal world, Escala must confront a past she never knew, and an evil she accidentally unleashed, one that could destroy her family, the fey realm, and the entire material plane.

Escala’s Wish is a sweeping coming-of-age tale about magic, mischief, and the dangerous price of curiosity.

Escala never meant to cause the end of everything, but can she stop it before it's too late?

This is a fresh, unique romantasy: no werewolves, no vampires, no “bad boy” love interest, and no enemies-to-lovers arc. Instead, the romance is sweet, gradual, emotionally sincere, and reminiscent of classic fantasy love stories, an innocent slow burn that grows from shared trials and genuine connection.

Told by an energetic and egotistical bard named Wigfrith Foreverbloom, Esacla's Wish is a tale of redemption, sacrifice, and love, where every price of curiosity might be too high.

Step into Valla and discover how one wish sets an entire world in motion.